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Getting Setteled with some Spicy Orange Chicken

Well we are here….finally! At some points I wasn’t sure if it was ever really going to happen. I move out of my apartment in Monterey on June 1st, moved in with some great friends, flew to New Jersey on July 9th and we moved into our condo in Rhode Island on July 31st. I have been living out of suitcases for two months and was beyond ready to be here and unpack. The move went very smoothly thanks to all of the help that we had! The unpacking wasn’t so bad either. It was so much fun combining our things and styles, finding places for everything and getting to hang our artwork up (we are both Photographers). My favorite part of our new place is the built-in bookshelves that house our camera collection. See Photos at the end of this post :)

We are starting to find our way around Portsmouth, Newport and Bristol. We live between two vineyards (that we hope to try really soon). One a mile East and one a mile South of our condo! Today we visited the farmer’s market that is held at one of the vineyards every Saturday. It’s a bit small compared to the one in Monterey but it’s awesome! I found a few stands that had some gluten-free items, not many but it’s a start at least. We even found a stand that had fresh edamame right on the stalk/branch still!!

Sadly though I haven’t had a chance to do too much baking/cooking but I’m getting there. I need to find a job still so much of my free time has been spent searching for a job in this not so great economy! I’m very used to working in higher education but at this point I will take any job that comes my way, including working at a grocery store, bookstore etc…you name it and I’ll pretty much do it as long as we have money coming in. This whole gluten-free lifestyle, food, flours etc. are just so expensive. So once I get a job and have some money coming in I’ll be able to stock up on all my gluten-free flours but until them I am searching for recipes to make with the little that I have. Growing up money was tight very often so my mom was great at making meals that would go the distance and either last a while or you could make those leftovers into a completely different meal.

My first big meal was my grandmother’s gravy and meatballs, which I froze a good amount of it for later use and we ate that for about three nights in a row! We stocked up on gluten-free sandwich meat, chicken breast, hot Italian sausage and a few other things at B.J.’s. Of course we had Bryan’s favorite – Sweet and Spicy Chicken one night too. Yesterday I realized I had about a half a cup of brown rice flour left so I decided to make Bryan a little treat, some yummy gluten-free brownies. I was getting a bit frustrated today because every time I thought of a recipe to make tonight for dinner or something to bake I was short by either one or two (simple) ingredients. I’m not used to not having certain things in my house anymore, like yeast, rice vinegar, ginger, vanilla extract etc…really simple things but we just haven’t had a chance to buy them just yet. So we broke down today and picked them up. I’m very excited to be able to make some bread next week!!

Tonight I decided to make another meal that is great to freeze, has lots of flavor and makes great leftovers. Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine (Issue #50, March 2008 pages 80-81). My only suggestion would to be use a little less orange juice than it calls for, but that is just me…

Place cornstarch in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in orange juice until smooth. Whisk in soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic and red-pepper flakes; season with salt. Set mixture aside.

In a 5-quart nonstick Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook chicken on the one side until slightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to a plate, and set aside (chicken will cook more later).

Add broccoli, carrots, and 1/2 cup water to pot. Cook, partially covered, until water has evaporated and broccoli is bright green, 3 minutes. Add reserved chicken and cornstarch mixture; bring to a boil. Cook until chicken is opaque throughout and sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve stir-fry over rice.

Run container(s) under hot water to release frozen stir-fry. Place in a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup water per serving. Cover and heat over medium high, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 10 to 12 minutes.

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